St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 opened 1789 New Orleans Louisiana

 “They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at–Elysian Fields.” Blanche says from a "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams

A week ago I happily played tour guide to Baltimore friends in New Orleans. They wanted to see My New Orleans. Top on the list was a tour of one of New Orleans famous above ground cemetery's St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was founded in 1789, and it is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans. Located at the corners of St. Louis and Basin streets. At one time the cemetery was much larger (300 square feet) but today it is much smaller due to development around it. Like most cemeteries in New Orleans, most of the graves are above ground tombs or wall vaults.

Nicolas Cage purchased this plot within the historical cemetery and constructed a 9-foot pyramid to hold his bodily remains.

Pyramid - a variation of the stepped-tomb, in which instead of a flat or pitched roof, a pyramid form was used. The Varney Tomb in St. Louis No. 1 is an example of this rare tomb type.

The low tomb to the left is a Barrel-vaulted tomb - tomb characterized by a vaulted roof, usually constructed of brick and then plastered, and typically employing a facade variation. Construction of the vaulted ceiling of these tombs using brick required a fair level of expertise as is amply illustrated by the masonry-work of this era. Use of the vaulted ceiling was supplanted by the false lintel slab in the mid-nineteenth century.

Mourning figure - typical early 19th century funerary image

Nicolas Cage purchased this plot within the historical cemetery and constructed a 9-foot pyramid to hold his bodily remains.

Nicolas Cage purchased this plot within the historical cemetery and constructed a 9-foot pyramid to hold his bodily remains.

Society tomb - professional or benevolent societies were common in the early history of New Orleans and served to administer to the burial needs of the individuals who belonged to them. There are many historically important ethnic groups as well as volunteer firemen groups represented by this tomb style. A society tomb is a multi layered tomb wall that contains several burial vaults. They are like mausoleums in most ways, except that most people in a society tomb are connected in some way.

Scene Plot:

They continue to New Orleans and find the brothel George had intended to visit. Taking prostitutes Karen (Karen Black) and Mary (Toni Basil) with them, Wyatt and Billy decide to go outside and wander the parade-filled street of the Mardi Gras celebration. They end up in a cemetery, where all four ingest LSD. They experience a psychedelic bad trip infused with Catholic prayer, represented through quick edits, sound effects, and over-exposed film.



Trivia

For the famous soliloquy that Peter Fonda does in the cemetery while tripped on acid, Director Dennis Hopper asked Peter to talk to the statue as if he were talking to his mother, who died a suicide when Peter was 10 years old. Peter didn't want to do it, as he had never confronted his feelings about his mother. But Hopper insisted, which is why you hear Peter call the statue "Mother", and he states that he both loves her and hates her, which expresses his conflicted emotions. This scene persuaded Bob Dylan to allow the use of his song "It's Alright Ma" in one of the final scenes, which contains lyrics referencing suicide. Peter told Dylan, "I need to hear those words", and he agreed to its use.



The New Orleans cemetery is St. Louis #1, a Catholic cemetery. They didn't have permission to shoot there and Catholic audience members were shocked that the church had allowed it. Since then no other films have been allowed to shoot at St. Louis #1, unless it's a documentary and you have permission.

Society tomb - professional or benevolent societies were common in the early history of New Orleans and served to administer to the burial needs of the individuals who belonged to them. There are many historically important ethnic groups as well as volunteer firemen groups represented by this tomb style. A society tomb is a multi layered tomb wall that contains several burial vaults. They are like mausoleums in most ways, except that most people in a society tomb are connected in some way.

Torch - originally the torch was a Greek symbol of life and truth, but the inverted torch in funerary art symbolizes death.

Hourglass - the attribute of death and Father Time, the hourglass symbolizes the passage of time and the shortness of life.

Torch - originally the torch was a Greek symbol of life and truth, but the inverted torch in funerary art symbolizes death.

Fenced in grave - a somewhat typical sight in a New Orleans cemetery. Resembles the iron work on most French Quarter building. Some tombs or grave markers are circled in a wrought iron fence with a gate. Most are black, some are silver and some are red with rust, but they all have beautiful and intricate designs.

Eliza Lewis Claiborne (1784-1804) - First wife of William C.C. Claiborne, the first American Governor of Louisiana. Also entombed here are her son and her brother, Micajah Green Lewis, who died in a duel defending the honor of his brother-in-law, the governor. Tomb #640.

Wreath - originating as an ancient symbol of victory, it was adopted into the Christian religion as a symbol of the victory of the redemption. It is now a common memorial symbol

Table tomb - thought to be a variant of the sarcophagus type, this tomb has a low, flat "table" top resting on supports on top of the burial receptacle, which functioned as a surface for vases and ceremonial libations commemorating the dead.

Greek Revival Fenced in grave - a somewhat typical sight in a New Orleans cemetery. Resembles the iron work on most French Quarter building. Some tombs or grave markers are circled in a wrought iron fence with a gate. Most are black, some are silver and some are red with rust, but they all have beautiful and intricate designs.

Oven Vault - Wall vault commonly known as an "oven" vault because of its arched shape. St. Louis No. 1 & No. 2 are surrounded by these vaults which serve as burial sites as well as the wall to the cemeteries.

Bernard de Marigny (1788-1871) - Wealthy French landowner who participated in early Louisiana government. He lost most of his wealth through gambling. He is credited with introducing the game of craps to the United States. Tomb #606.

Fenced in grave - a somewhat typical sight in a New Orleans cemetery. Resembles the iron work on most French Quarter building. Some tombs or grave markers are circled in a wrought iron fence with a gate. Most are black, some are silver and some are red with rust, but they all have beautiful and intricate designs.

Society tomb - professional or benevolent societies were common in the early history of New Orleans and served to administer to the burial needs of the individuals who belonged to them. There are many historically important ethnic groups as well as volunteer firemen groups represented by this tomb style. A society tomb is a multi layered tomb wall that contains several burial vaults. They are like mausoleums in most ways, except that most people in a society tomb are connected in some way.

Pyramid - a variation of the stepped-tomb, in which instead of a flat or pitched roof, a pyramid form was used. The Varney Tomb in St. Louis No. 1 is an example of this rare tomb type.

Pyramid - a variation of the stepped-tomb, in which instead of a flat or pitched roof, a pyramid form was used. The Varney Tomb in St. Louis No. 1 is an example of this rare tomb type.

This Greek Revival Tomb, the Glapion family crypt at St. Louis Cemetery #1, is comprised of three stacked crypts with a receiving vault and is the reputed burial place of Marie Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 16, 1881), the Voodoo Queen, a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voudou renowned in New Orleans. The tomb has become a tourist attraction and a stop along commercial cemetery and voodoo tours. Visitors bring small gifts in the tradition of voodoo offerings and mark the grave with three x's on its side, in the hope's that Laveau's spirit will grant them a wish.

Little is known with any certainty about Marie Laveau's life and career. She was born free in New Orleans, the daughter of a white planter and a free Creole woman of color. She was married to Jacques Paris, a free person of color who had emigrated to Haiti, and after his death, took a lover, Christophe Glapion, with whom she lived in common-law marriage and reportedly had 15 children, including Marie Laveau II, who also practiced voodoo.



Oral traditions suggested that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs, including saints, with African spirits and religious concepts. Some scholars believe that her feared magical powers were actually based on her network of informants in households of the prominent, which she developed while working as a hairdresser. Others assert that she owned her own brothel and also developed informants that way. Laveau was known to have staged ceremonies in which she possessed participants by loas (voodoo spirits) and danced naked around bonfires, told fortunes and supposedly healed the sick and saved several condemned men from the gallows.

This Greek Revival Tomb, the Glapion family crypt at St. Louis Cemetery #1, is comprised of three stacked crypts with a receiving vault and is the reputed burial place of Marie Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 16, 1881), the Voodoo Queen, a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voudou renowned in New Orleans. The tomb has become a tourist attraction and a stop along commercial cemetery and voodoo tours. Visitors bring small gifts in the tradition of voodoo offerings and mark the grave with three x's on its side, in the hope's that Laveau's spirit will grant them a wish.

Little is known with any certainty about Marie Laveau's life and career. She was born free in New Orleans, the daughter of a white planter and a free Creole woman of color. She was married to Jacques Paris, a free person of color who had emigrated to Haiti, and after his death, took a lover, Christophe Glapion, with whom she lived in common-law marriage and reportedly had 15 children, including Marie Laveau II, who also practiced voodoo.



Oral traditions suggested that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs, including saints, with African spirits and religious concepts. Some scholars believe that her feared magical powers were actually based on her network of informants in households of the prominent, which she developed while working as a hairdresser. Others assert that she owned her own brothel and also developed informants that way. Laveau was known to have staged ceremonies in which she possessed participants by loas (voodoo spirits) and danced naked around bonfires, told fortunes and supposedly healed the sick and saved several condemned men from the gallows.

Wall vaults - burial compartments within perimeter of burial ground. One vault was often used for an entire family. After a respectable time, the remains of a burial were pushed to the back where construction of the vault allowed it to fall to a receptacle below; the space was then ready for another recipient. These compartments were vaulted in early construction. This later gave way to the flat marble lintel slab as seen in construction of wall vaults in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.